Days come and go from year to year, carrying the glad tidings of the arrival of the blessed month of Ramadan and dispersing different types of righteousness, mercy, forgiveness, and means of being saved from the Hellfire.
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy upon him) once said, “Allah has made the month of Ramadan a racetrack for His creation where they can compete with one another through acts of obedience to reach His pleasure. Some people preceded others and attained victory while others fell behind and missed the mark. Amazing is the competitor who smiles on the Day in which the doers of good are victorious and the unproductive ones are at a loss.”
It is incumbent upon a person to be from amongst the forerunners to it as well as those competing with one another in it. Allah, the Most High, says, “So for this let the competitors compete” (Surah al-Mutaffifin: 26).
A Muslim should be eager to welcome Ramadan and prepare for it. Here, my dear noble brother, are some ways that can help you benefit from the month of Ramadan:
1. Praising Allah and being grateful to Him for reaching this month, and being happy and joyful for its arrival. Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in his book ‘al-Adhkar’, “It is highly preferred for the one who is rejuvenated with a manifest blessing or being kept away from a manifest trial to prostrate to Allah, the Most High, out of gratefulness or to praise Him in a befitting manner.”
Imam ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “The Prophetic tradition ‘The month of Ramadan has come to you’ is a primary evidence for congratulating one another on the arrival of Ramadan. How can a believer not be given glad tidings when the gates of Paradise are opened?! How can a sinner not be given glad tidings with the closing of the gates of Hell?! How can any sound-minded person not be given glad tidings of a time when the devils are chained?!”
2. Having determination to leave off sins and to repent. Ramadan is considered a true opportunity for change. Each one of us needs to open up a new, clean slate with Allah. This requires us to repent from all types of sins, cease doing them, and not returning to them. It is the month of repentance. If one does not repent in it, then when will he?! Allah, the Most High, says, “And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed” (Surah al-Nur: 31). He also says, “O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance” (Surah al-Tahrim: 8).
3. A strategic plan to benefit from Ramadan:
Have a working, feasible plan to take advantage of acts of obedience to Allah, the Most High, in the days and nights of Ramadan. Divide your time between family, recitation of Qur’an, sleep, prayers, visitations, etc. Be organized and do not be directionless leaving yourself open to potentially aggravating circumstances. Be keen in making some specific time for yourself in remembering Allah and glorifying Him after every good deed and prayer, in addition to before and after sleep.
4. Learn about the rulings pertaining to Ramadan and its virtues. It is incumbent upon every Muslim to worship Allah based upon solid knowledge. One cannot be excused for his ignorance regarding the obligatory acts that Allah has prescribed upon His servants. From amongst those acts is the fasting of the month of Ramadan. Therefore, a Muslim needs to learn the different matters revolving around fasting as well as its rulings before Ramadan arrives so that his fasting is correct and accepted by Allah, the Most High. He, the Most High, says, “…so ask the people of the message if you do not know” (Surah al-Anbiya’: 7).
A Muslim should familiarize himself with the virtues and rulings of fasting so that he can prepare himself for the acts of obedience in this month. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) would prepare the psyche of his Companions in order to take advantage of this month. He said on the last day of Shaʿban, “The month of Ramadan has come to you…” until the end of the narration. It was reported by Ahmad and al-Nasai’.
5. Understanding the vigor that the righteous predecessors had with taking advantage of Ramadan.
Sufyan al-Thawri would leave off the rest of his deeds and focus on reciting Qur’an when the month entered. Al-Walid b. ʿAbdul Malik would finish the entire Qur’an every three days, and in Ramadan he finished it seventeen times.
Al-Rabiʿ b. Sulaiman said, “Imam al-Shafiʿi would finish reciting the entire Qur’an sixty times in Ramadan and in every other month thirty times.”
Mohammad b. Ismaʿil al-Bukhari would finish the entire Qur’an during the daytime every single day of Ramadan. After the nightly prayers (al-Tarawih) in Ramadan, he would finish the Qur’an every three nights in his additional, voluntary prayers.
O Allah, allow for us to reach Ramadan and accept from us. Help us in our fasting, praying, lowering of the gaze, and protecting our tongues. O Allah, make us from amongst those who are freed from the Hellfire. Indeed you are the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.